1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an integrated transmission and/or reception device. It applies for example in the production of broadband integrated sensors.
2. Discussion of the Background
An integrated sensor is generally formed of several independent elements linked by conventional means of connection. These elements consist for example of one or more plane antennas, of a circuit comprising the microwave functions together with its own mechanical casing, of a coaxial strap between the antenna and the aforementioned casing and of an analogue control card linked to this casing by connections using wires or pads. With the aim of producing a compact and highly integrated sensor, the antenna consists of a plane radiating element, generally termed a "ipatch". The environmental constraints are catered for and mechanical cohesion is achieved via several independent casings. The casing comprising the microwave functions comprises several ceramics linked together by strips or gold-plated wires. At high operating frequencies, of the order of one to several tens of Gigahertz for example, very small differences in the dimensions may introduce considerable phase differences between the pathways. Accordingly, the ceramics which are manufactured independently of one another exhibit physical scatter requiring tuning of the various reception pathways, this tuning being carried out with regard to the phase and amplitude differences created between the pathways, assumed to be identical.
Other drawbacks are due to the current embodiment of the sensors. In particular, the cables, of which there is a large number, prevent the sensor from operating in sub-bands. Sub-band operation uses several types of antennas each assigned a sub-band, and thus each antenna is perfectly matched to the signals received, thus making it possible in particular to improve the sensitivity of detection of these received signals. Moreover, the noise is reduced on account of the decrease in the bandwidths involved.
It should additionally be noted that the lengthening of the electrical lengths gives rise to ripples and hence, here again, a drop in sensitivity with regard to the signals received.